Nuship Arafura has finally gone to sea for the first time, after sitting alongside for almost 2 and a half years.
The 30 month delay sitting alongside at Osborne in SA was due to the ship not meeting civilian maritime fire safety standards, which meant that the ship was uninsurable, preventing it being sent to sea. Navy would not accept the ship without successful sea trials (and it meeting Navy's far more stringent fire safety standards).
NUSHIP Arafura begins Builders Sea Trials
- Arafura 04.jpg (81.28 KiB) Viewed 151 times
ADM understands that NUSHIP Arafura (OPV 203) commenced a series of Builders Sea Trials (BST) on 26 August. The milestone comes more than two and a half years after the ship was launched at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia.
According to the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), sea trials were originally planned to take place before December 2022. However, they were delayed due to structural fire protection design issues that hindered the ship's ability to meet seaworthiness standards.
The initial trial lasted just one night, with Arafura returning to the Osborne Naval Shipyard on 27 August. It departed the shipyard again on 29 August for more trials in the Gulf of St Vincent off Adelaide.
Defence maintains that Arafrua will be commissioned into service this year, although it is unclear if Initial Operational Capability (IOC) will be achieved as well. According to the ANAO, following delivery of the ship to Defence - which is still pending - it will take at least 37 weeks before IOC can be achieved.
The status of Arafrua’s sistership, NUSHIP Eyre (OPV 204) launched in November 2023, is unclear. ADM understands that the first ship being built by Civmec at Henderson in Western Australia, NUSHIP Pilbara (OPV 205), is still at least a year away from its launch.
